Land of the Gods

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Hawke looked at the ring and smiled with satisfaction. “This is it, all right. Take a look.”

Lea took it from him and held it to the light. “Sure is. We’re not doing so bad, you know?” she said, blowing him a kiss.

Reaper smiled. “I hope Cairo’s team have been as lucky. If so, we already have the seventh and eighth rings.”

“Still missing number six, though,” Lea said. “Poor Mr Mokrani.”

A soldier appeared at the door, leaning half into the room, sweat beading on his forehead as he spoke. “Captain Benning, sir?”

“What is it?”

“I need to speak with you, sir, urgently.”

Benning followed the soldier out of the dingy vault.

“And we’ve got it for a week!” Lea said. “I’m going to call Cairo and let her know the good news. With some luck they got the other ring from Professor al-Hashimi. They might be meaningless to anyone who doesn’t know their true meaning, but to us they’re worth the weight of the world in gold.”

“Hold it right there!”

Hawke turned to see Captain Benning had lifted his pistol and was aiming it at his head with a firm, solid grip as he marched over to him. “Hand over the ring and raise your hands, nice and slow.”

“What the hell is this?” Lea said.

Hawke and Reaper exchanged a glance. “Yes, what’s going on, Captain?”

“I’m sorry Major Hawke, but General Tucker says these are orders direct from the Pentagon.”

“What orders?”

“You’re to be arrested at once and detained here until transfer off base.”

“Arrested?” Lea said, shocked. “What the hell for?”

Hawke already knew. “Don’t tell me, we’re now the most dangerous people on the planet?”

Benning looked to the other soldiers with an awkward expression on his face. “That’s what they tell me, sir. You’re on the Most Wanted. You’re terrorists. It comes right from the very top. The President.”

“President Brooke would never call us terrorists!” Lea said.

Benning looked confused. “I guess you haven’t heard then.”

Lea felt her stomach turn over. “Heard what?”

“President Brooke was arrested today and charged with treason. He’s been removed from office by the Cabinet. Davis Faulkner is the new President and the new Commander in Chief, and he says you’re on the Most Wanted, so you are. Now, do as I say and raise your hands!”

“So it’s happened,” Reaper said.

The Englishman felt the cold steel of the Beretta’s muzzle pushing into the base of his skull and realized with dread what must have happened back on Washington. He could hardly believe Faulkner had been successful in his bid to take over the White House and remove Brooke from the Presidency.

“You don’t have to do this, Benning.”

The young American captain paused before replying. It looked like he was thinking about what Hawke had said, which was a good sign.

No one else in the vault moved or spoke. A grim stillness had descended over the whole place as the gravity of the situation sank into everyone in its full horror.

“As I say, those are my orders.” Benning’s voice was calm and cool.

When Hawke replied, his words were also measured and level. “You’re not a robot, Captain. You know what’s happened. Your country has just suffered a coup d’état and your democratically elected Commander in Chief has been arrested by criminals and terrorists.”

“General Tucker just described President Brooke with the exact same words.”

Hawke felt the pressure of the gun lessen slightly on the back of his head. Maybe Benning was thinking the matter over, or maybe he was just being sloppy. He considered turning on the soldier and taking him out.

It was possible, but not without triggering a massive fire fight inside the vault, and his team were too exposed. Maybe Reaper might make it to the cover of the crates behind them, but Lea was too exposed. She would be killed before she could start making a dent on Benning and his soldiers.

Plus he didn’t want to kill any of them. These were US soldiers, allies in the cause. These men came from regiments he had trained with as a younger man in the commandos. The idea of firing on them to get out of this situation wasn’t one he could live with unless they forced his hand.

“They’re lying, Captain,” he said at last. “You know in your heart that they’re lying.”

Behind Benning, his sergeant called over, “What are we doing here, sir? These people are our allies. You heard what General Tucker said — some of their team are US citizens!”

The US Army captain paused again and took a step back from Hawke, but kept the gun raised and aimed at his head. “I have to ask you to throw your weapons down.”

“You’re in charge here, Benning,” Hawke said. “You’re the OC. There’s no one here to tell you what to do. Your new boss is all the way over in Washington. This is your decision, your call. If you arrest us and take us into custody, you’re working with criminals and terrorists against a good man like Jack Brooke. Only you can make this call.”

“Wrong, my boss is a few hundred feet away right inside this palace. Turn around.”

Hawke followed his instructions and turned around, his hands still in the air and his gun still on his belt holster. “What’s it going to be?”

Benning lowered his gun to his side and the rest of his unit breathed a collective sigh of relief. “I can’t do this, it’s not right.”

“You made the right decision,” Reaper said. “Faulkner might be the President right now, but trust me when I tell you his ass isn’t going to be in the Oval Office very long.”

“Stand aside, captain!”

Benning turned to see General Tucker standing in the door. Flanked by soldiers holding submachine guns, the old warrior stepped into the vault, a snarl on his face. “You were going to disobey a direct order from the Pentagon?”

“Sir, I…”

“You realize the implications of this?”

“It doesn’t feel right, sir.”

The general looked astonished. “It doesn’t feel right? You think this is some kind of Sunday School picnic? You’re a captain in the US Army!”

Crestfallen and ashen with fear, Benning climbed down. He lifted his gun and pointed it at Hawke again. “Lay down your weapons.”

Tucker nodded. “I’m going to overlook what you did, Benning, but don’t let me down again, you hear me?”

“No sir.”

“What now?” Lea said.

“Now you’re on a transport back to the States. Extraordinary rendition, go to jail and do not pass go. Now, move it!”

He waved the gun at the door, and they filed past the soldiers.

“And I’ll take that,” Tucker said, plucking the ring from Hawke’s fingers. “You won’t need it where you’re going.”

“And where’s that?” Lea asked.

“Tartarus.”

Lea darted a quick look at Hawke and then back to Tucker. “What?”

“You’ll have plenty of time to think about it on the flight.” He turned to Benning and handed him the ring. “See to it this gets to the Pentagon.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You’re making a big mistake, Tucker,” Hawke said.

“That’s enough, get them out of here. There’s a USAF transport plane waiting for them at the airfield.”

The soldiers pushed her out of the room and along the corridor leading up to the steps they had taken to reach the vault. Outside, Lea raised her hand to her mouth and pretended to cough as she spoke into her palm mic. “You there, Cairo?”

“Sure am, but where are you? You’re not at the rendezvous point.”

She glanced around at the guards and lowered her voice. “We’ve been put under arrest by the US Army.”

“What the actual fuck?”

“No time to explain,” she said quietly. “They’re flying us out on a transport from the airport right now. How fast can you be here?”

“We’re a few minutes out. Hold tight, darling.”